Climate change affects both water quality and food safety, which will both have important impacts on public health in the absence of appropriate interventions.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences notes that the potential effects of climate change on food-related illness may be indirect and moderate or unlikely in the US. On a global scale, however, the concern may be greater, arising from:
- The direct correlation between water temperatures and certain microorganisms that cause human gastroenteritis
- Direct and indirect links between food contamination, certain foodborne disease outbreaks, and earth surface temperatures.
- Possible changes in food production patterns due to climate—temperature, precipitation, humidity, and flooding are all factors in pathogen contamination.
In the US there is compelling scientific evidence that climate is a driver of waterborne disease. More than half of community outbreaks in the US were associated with extreme rain events. Heavy rains have been linked to increases in Legionellosis, wound infections, respiratory diseases and conjunctivitis. While most studies have revealed that greater volumes of precipitation are a risk, one project in England and Wales showed that 10 percent of outbreaks were associated with 14 days of dry weather with the suggestion that sewage discharges into rivers during droughts pose a risk to public health.
Read more at One of Climate Change’s Biggest Dangers Is One the World Still Isn’t Talking About
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